BREAKING: Rivals250 CB Avery Helm commits to Florida
THE SITUATION
The verdict is in.
Avery Helm, a recent addition to the Rivals250 for the Class of 2020, committed to Florida over LSU, Arizona and TCU. The four-star cornerback is the No. 19-ranked prospect at his position and No. 32 overall player from Texas.
He broke down the decision to commit to the Gators exclusively with Rivals ahead of his return to The Swamp this weekend.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
“I was ready to make my decision. I have been talking about it with my family recently and it started to get a lot more serious in those conversations, so I knew I was ready to make my decision.”
“We’ve built a great relationship with Coach (Torian) Gray. The conversations we’ve had and the stuff we talked about, I felt comfortable around him. We have been talking about developing me as a player and a young man.”
“The atmosphere there played a huge role. It just feels like home there. I feel like that’s somewhere I can be myself and it’s somewhere I feel like I can reach my full potential at.”
“The coaches made me feel like family, you know, especially Coach Gray. It’s somewhere I can trust everyone and just be around. I knew that by the conversations we had and the fact I could call him about anything, just somebody I can talk to.”
“I talked with the coaches this morning. The coaches were very excited. I talked with Coach Gray and Coach (Dan) Mullen, and they were excited for the news and looking forward to seeing me this weekend.”
RIVALS REACTION
Helm is a 6-foot-2, 170-pound defensive back from Missouri City, Texas. He has the ideal size and length and speed (4.38-second 40-yard dash) to be a dominant boundary corner in the SEC.
As a junior for Fort Bend Marshall (Texas) High School, Helm collected multiple interceptions. Scheme-wise, the coaches utilize Helm in press-man often in a Cover 2 Man Under where the cornerback shines in one-on-one situations. He has a definitive advantage in terms of speed and easily shadows opposing wide receiver. Helm routinely looks for the ball and consistently comes up with huge plays for his team. Case and point: he collected four picks in 2018. There is a strong case to be made that the four-star corner is the biggest defensive playmaker in the Lone Star State for 2020.
It’s a huge get for Florida and more specifically first-year defensive backs coach Torian Gray as the Gators beat out rival SEC programs like LSU and Alabama as well as Arizona and local schools like TCU.